Late again – sorry

And even if it did work, he may not have the control he’d need, given the limited vocabulary he had to work with. He had the recording of Urasmian’s translocation spell as well as the sizable collection of Minoan words he’d painstakingly built up over the last few months, both before and after he’d presented his Doctoral Thesis. The trouble was that the words from the tablets were all descriptions used for accounting purposes, such as animal and equipment totals, five sheep, or whatever. They weren’t a general vocabulary of sentences forming an entire language like you would get from a novel, for instance. So he knew it was going to be hard to use the limited word choice to both do things and control them, and that was presuming this even worked!

He had the broom handle with the aluminum foil end bits semi-welded onto each end by whatever the spell did with him. He retrieved it from the pick-up and added it to his collection of materials before sitting down on another handy rock outcrop to consider what he intended to do for a minute or two. Alright, he thought to himself, let’s start with what I know. He opened the laptop up and put his headphones in, and listened to the recording he’d made of Urasmian speaking the translocation spell as he embedded it in the wooden handle. Even though he now understood the words, he re-ran the recording a few more times until he was sure he had it memorized.

He then recorded his version and listened to the replay. The laptop’s built-in microphone wasn’t the best, but it sounded pretty right to his ear. He listened to the original and did a second recording. That was better. He had left off the bit at the end that actually enabled the spell just to be sure his laptop didn’t go whizzing off somewhere! He couldn’t have done it if he hadn’t been able to understand the words used in the spell, or at least the meanings of the words used. He was glad Urasmian’s translation spell was still working! Which brought up the question of how long it would continue to work. That was something Jason had no idea of the answer, as Urasmian had never said.

He then considered the list of words he had from the tablets and found only one that was any sort of match for the broom handle. So, it would be pronounced like that. Hmm. Right. And phrases would probably sound like this… Right.  The broom handle could be called an axle, as in the word used on several tablets to record the number of chariot axles a person owned. He got the impression that chariot axles tended to break regularly as everyone listed as having a chariot always had more than one axle.

Okay. Let’s see if that works. He ran the modified translocation spell through his head several times and listened to the original a couple more times. He substituted in the word for five paces for the distance and axle instead of the word for a person and moved the broom handle to a clear spot ten yards up the track. He stepped back and said the spell aloud while focusing on the broom handle. It disappeared and clattered to the ground about four yards further up the track!

Chapter 8

Whoa! I’m magic!

Back home, he found that he kept pondering whether it was the right plant, and if so, could he do magic now? That was the big question. He had no idea, but he knew he had to find out. It was almost two weeks after getting home before he escaped his parent’s supervision. They had taken it in turns for one or the other to have a day off from work to make sure he wasn’t left alone in case of a relapse or whatever. Not that Jason felt sick or anything. By the second week home, he was doing push-ups and star jumps in his bedroom, trying to regain some of his fitness even though his folks banned him from going to the gym. Not that he had ever been a gym junky, but after the hospitalization, he had felt very weak.

Finally, they decided he would live without one of them being present twenty-four hours a day and resumed their normal work routine. Yes! Finally, he was free to see if he could do anything. Even better, his dad had left the truck at home, at least this week, being dropped off and picked up from his work site by mum! Okay! He deliberately waited two days before doing anything, studying Google maps and deciding on just where he would go. Once in the truck, he kept the map open on his phone and headed out.

It wasn’t that far until he reached the area that he had decided on as the place to try things out. Satisfied the place matched the map, Jason got out of the truck and looked around the immediate vicinity. The track off Willow Glen Drive wasn’t used to access the water tank at the top of the bluff anymore but still saw regular use by trail bikers. The spot he remembered was still accessible and apparently untouched. It offered a view back down to Willow Glen Drive and a fairly good view all around so he could tell if anyone was coming. It also offered some concealment amongst the stand of rather stunted trees on the otherwise rather barren hillside. Getting out here so early in the morning meant there were no trail bike riders out using the trails as yet, which would have attracted attention if only from the noise. Not that there it was likely that there would be many on a weekday, but there could be some, especially late in the day after school was out. The current peace and quiet suited him just fine, and he hoped he wouldn’t be interrupted. He’d find out, he guessed.

He grabbed his laptop and found a bit of rocky outcrop to perch it on in an area that he hoped would be covered by the shade of one of the scraggly trees. It was still early enough in the morning that the sun was still behind the mountains, but it would be up in an hour or so. Right. Let’s get this experiment underway, he thought to himself. Then he laughed at himself as he hadn’t really needed to come all the way out here to do his experiments, and he was going to feel pretty stupid if nothing happened! On the other hand, while he hadn’t been feeling sick for some days, he had been feeling very strange mentally ever since the episode on Santorini, and he hoped that meant this was going to work. It wasn’t like he thought he was going to pass out at any tick of the clock, but there were these shooting stars in his vision regularly and occasional dizzy spells, which he had been careful to hide from his folks.

As of Kyron the Warlord

sorry this is late

The doctor shrugged and told him not to do anything too energetic for the rest of the day and that he would see him later. He had barely left the room before a different nurse appeared and inserted a new catheter in his other wrist before drawing a new blood sample which she bore off like a trophy. He visited the bathroom again and then propped himself up to watch the television.

An hour later, his parents walked in, surprising the hell out of him. Apparently, they had flown to Crete as soon as they could get airline tickets and visas organized. Once there, they caught the next local flight to Santorini, dumped their bags in his hotel room, and immediately headed for the hospital. Much emoting followed their arrival, even from his father, which surprised him a bit. His father was not, as a rule, the overly physical contact type usually. They were clearly very upset at his near-death! His sister hadn’t been able to come but sent her love.

They had get-well messages from many of his friends, relatives, and even a couple of his professors! And they brought his laptop! With an amazing display of self-discipline, he forbore opening the device and disappearing into it while they were there. Eventually, they were sufficiently satisfied with his recovery that they were persuaded to retire to the hotel to catch up on their sleep. After they had finally departed, he found his email account overflowing with get-well emails. He had never had all that many friends, and getting emails from people he didn’t even know was a strange experience! The fame he had engendered for himself with his translating Linear A, at least amongst the Classical Studies world, was brought home with a rush by the sheer number of messages he had received. And he wasn’t even game to look at his social media accounts! Ha, they would probably be less full if the truth be known.

The doctor reluctantly signed him out the next day as, to all intents and purposes, he was completely recovered, if more than a little weak and very pale looking, and the new blood tests had come back all normal.  His mother made him stay at the hotel on Santorini for another day, which was awkward with them sharing the room before they began the trip back to the States. Jason found himself so weak and prone to the shakes that her maternal hovering was actually welcome rather than annoying. The flight home was long and boring and included a three-hour layover in New York, making the trip seem even longer. At least by the time they arrived back in San Diego, the shakes were finally starting to subside.

He thought back over the trip and wondered whether the leaves had done anything to him? Apart from apparently killing him, twice, that was. Hmmm. Then there was all the strange carry-on with the blood tests. Urasmian had said normal people had a two in a hundred chance of dying from drinking the tea made from the leaves of the right plant. Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing if he had actually found the right plant or not. He didn’t feel magical, that was for sure! But at least he wasn’t dead, which was a good thing!

Kyron the Rescuer is out now.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FSXDQPFD

The following morning, he felt almost back to normal, apart from a level of weakness commensurate with five days in a coma. He had no trouble hopping out of bed to use the toilet and was sitting up watching the television after scarfing the meager breakfast when the doctor next visited.

“Well,” The doctor said, walking over to the bed. “You are looking much better.”

He quickly studied the records, did a few tests of Jason’s vital signs, and then nodded at Jason.

“Hmm. Interesting. If I didn’t know better, I would say there is nothing wrong with you.” The Doctor offered at the end of the process.

“I do feel a lot better today,” Jason commented, smiling sweetly at the doctor.

“Yes. All your vitals are normal. It is so abrupt it is almost scary. The last blood test was still odd. It is possible your catheter got contaminated somehow, so I am going to have a new one inserted this morning and do a new blood test.” The doctor didn’t sound so much upset as puzzled.

“So, I’m not getting out of here just yet?” Jason asked.

The doctor frowned and shook his head. “Not yet. You’re still rather debilitated, and I want to keep you under observation for another day, at least anyway. I am probably being overcautious, but if anything, you have recovered too quickly from whatever it was, and I am wary of a relapse. That liquid you drank certainly did not agree with you!”

“You don’t know what it was I drank?”

Jason thought he had said a tea of cannabis leaves the first time he had seen Jason once Jason had woken up.

“Didn’t you do a stomach pump or whatever? I thought you knew?”

The doctor shook his head. “Yes, of course, we did, but there was nothing unusual apart from some odd organic remains commensurate with a hemp plant, the leaves of which you had apparently boiled and then drank. We couldn’t identify anything else that would be the cause of the metabolic shutdown you experienced.” He paused. “Drinking a tea made from the hemp leaves should not have caused the symptoms you exhibited. I doubt it would even get you high. Do you remember what you ate or drank before the episode?”

Jason tried to look like he was struggling to remember. “Nothing substantial. I had some herbal tea I picked up in a shop on Crete, which I brought with me. That is the only thing I remember after I got back from the cruise around the island that I went on during the day. Other than the tea, there was nothing else apart from the hemp leaves. Someone told me that boiling the leaves made a drink that was less harmful than smoking that stuff. I was just trying to relax a bit before I was to meet with a couple of colleagues for lunch, and then I suddenly felt strange and had trouble breathing which was when I managed to call reception before passing out.” He paused and decided to play down the tea bit. “I had been drinking the herbal tea on Crete for a couple of days, so I doubt it was that, and I don’t remember eating anything during the afternoon.”

Some indeterminate time passed by after the nurse’s visit, during which he semi-dozed while the strange nerve twinges gradually waned, thankfully. Eventually, the door opened, and a small, dark-haired man wearing the traditional white coat came in and looked him over.

“So, you tried drinking boiled marijuana leaves. Interesting way of hospitalizing yourself.” He said in flawless English.

This observation was accompanied by a shaken head and a frown on the part of the doctor. Jason went to deny it but then realized that it was probably a better explanation than the real one. The doctor pursed his lips and nodded at Jason’s aborted attempt to speak.

 “Yes, Weak and disorientated, aren’t you?”

Jason nodded.

“How long?” Jason managed to croak through dry lips.

“Five days, young man. You died twice in the first two days from cardiac arrest. You were very lucky. I hope you have learned your lesson?”

The doctor looked like he wasn’t all that impressed with his patient’s intelligence, which Jason decided was understandable in the circumstances. The circumstances certainly looked pretty stupid from the doctor’s viewpoint. Then the full import of what the doctor had said struck home. Died twice! Jason thought in surprise. Oh. And yet, he was still here. Ah, the marvels of modern medical knowledge. I wonder if… He broke off that thought and smiled at the doctor.

“Yes, sir.” He muttered, finding it surprisingly hard to speak.

His throat and mouth felt like someone had taken sandpaper to them. Dry, harsh, and nothing seemed to want to work properly. The doctor nodded at him.

“Well, you seem to be on the road to recovery. Your body is getting back to normal, and now that you are conscious, that is one more thing I can cross off my list. I will be back to check on you this evening. In the meantime, please stay in bed today and rest up. Your body is debilitated and behaving very strangely even though it appears to be recovering now. You had a bizarre reaction to whatever you drank. Almost like an epileptic fit in some ways. Very odd. Anyway, you will be staying here for the moment while we wait for the latest round of blood tests.” He paused and nodded at the catheter in Jason’s wrist. “We took more blood earlier while you were still in a coma. The first blood test came back with some very strange results, which is why we are retesting. Drink lots of water. Call for help with any bodily needs, yes?”

Jason reluctantly nodded. Yuk, he means bedpans. Jason semi-dozed some more and drank all the water left on the mobile table next to the bed. When he used the help button, he was surprised to find the nurse was quite willing to help him into the bathroom and then wait outside. A damn sight better than using a bedpan! By the time the doctor returned in the afternoon, he was feeling considerably more alive and sitting up. A quick check of his vital signs and he was allowed a light dinner which caused his stomach to churn a little at first and give him the feeling that he was going to throw up initially, but his stomach settled down, and Jason was feeling much better by the time he fell asleep.

Well, there was only one way to find out, he thought to himself. But he still hesitated for another few minutes before steeling himself to take the glass, and with eyes closed, he drank the liquid. Which sort of tasted like licorice, or what he imagined liquid licorice would taste like. I hope all this means it was not just a type of licorice plant, he thought to himself. He could feel the liquid run down inside him, and seemingly nothing happened. He sighed in exasperation and relaxed as he started packing things up. Then his guts suddenly twisted and not so much hurt as he began to feel really strange. He saw stars and sat down on the bed, where he quickly found himself struggling to breathe. His vision started tunneling as his chest labored, and he leaned over the bed to the house phone, managed to press zero to get reception, and as he felt himself fading away, he heard a voice say in Greek. “Reception. How may I help you?”

“Medical emergency, room three oh four.” He sputtered out in Greek, and then everything went all black on him.

Chapter 7

Huh! Not dead yet!

Jason opened his eyes into darkness and experienced a moment of panic but then realized he was in a dark room where the features were unclear due to the gloom. His body felt heavy and lethargic, while the act of raising his head to look around left him feeling exhausted and rather nauseous. His waking up must have done something somewhere because a few moments later, what had seemed to be a solid wall over to his right proved to have a door.

The door opened to admit a lot of light, and a female in a uniform he decided had to be that of a nurse came bustling into the room. She gave him a slight smile and said hello in Greek, after which her conversational skills seemed to be limited to very simple phrases. She took his blood pressure and temperature before updating a clipboard at the end of the bed. During this operation, she said little beyond occasionally muttering a few placating words in his direction, which he gathered were designed to calm him more by the tone than the actual content. It was possible she didn’t realize he could speak Greek if she knew he was an American. The nurse finished with her tasks and told him to stay in bed till the doctor came and accompanied these words with suitable hand motions that confirmed his earlier suspicion. As he didn’t even feel the need to attend the bathroom, he was happy to oblige her request, given how strange his body felt. He had aches and pains throughout his body, he had discovered as he woke up fully, but they were only dull aches and pains, as if he’d been run over by a truck, say a month ago or something. Very odd.

He was getting small nerve twinges all over his body as well. They were only mild, small sudden twitches or jerks, but it felt really strange like he was a puppet and someone was not so much as pulling on the strings but rather just jerking them a little. It was also a bit like pins and needles but sharper, if not as painful, and not so generalized. Instead, it was like little pins being shoved into him here, there, and everywhere. Mostly on the inside rather than on the outside, as happened with pins and needles. He lay there hurting, twitching, and trying to remember what had happened. Ahh. His mental blankness regarding how he got here was suddenly full of memories of making the liquid concoction. What the hell had he been thinking?

For those of you who didn’t know we have been moving house. A tedious business that also involved a lot of travel as our new house is 190km or 118 miles from our old address. Two and half hours by car.
Uplift (i.e. they loaded our stuff) was the 19th and delivery the 20th.

This is my new office: (When the weather is fine)

View from office to the left and the right and then the left

I wrote nothing last week due to all the travel etc.
Where we are at:
Kyron the rescuer is at the editor finally
I have started on the Kelad Onslaught which is the third New Federation book.
I am thinking that the next Ithria book will be one joint volume with both Taroniah and Kyron working together….. it depends on how much storyline there is.
The first Western Reaches book (The further adventures of Princess Gizel) should follow the Ithria book or books.

After that – tentatively – Taroniah at Home and Kyron the Conquerer.
and then we’ll see.

Peter